Gun Plaintiff: DC Mayor's Gun Legislation Is De Facto Ban

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray is working on legislation to comply with a ruling that lifted a gun ban in the nation's capital, and Dr. Tom Palmer, the plaintiff in that case, says he fears that the proposal will amount to a de facto ban.

"The D.C. government’s position and the mayor’s position . . . has been that the power, the authority to establish reasonable time, place and manner regulations extends to banning it," Palmer said on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV on Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Scullin granted the District of Columbia a 90-day stay on July 29 on his ruling that lifted the ban on handguns in the nation's capital, which prevented citizens from carrying guns outside their homes. The stay was granted in response to a motion filed by the city.

As the city determines how to implement the court's ruling, the mayor is working on draft legislation to comply with Scullin's decision.

"If they read the Constitution as they have interpreted the Second Amendment, it means that they could legitimately under the First Amendment shut down every church, every mosque, every synagogue and every temple of the District of Columbia," Palmer said.

"That cannot be true. It’s a completely childish and crazy position and the court has educated them in the meaning of the law," he said.

"They should sit down with their lawyers and realize that they got licked, they were wrong and just begin to recognize our constitutional rights in D.C.," he added.

"It’s as if the First Amendment were to be upheld for the right to freedom of speech or the free exercise of religion and he would say, 'We’re puzzled by the implications of that,'" Palmer said.

"There are reasonable time, place and manner regulations governing the exercise of even fundamental rights," he said.

"You have the right to freedom of expression, but maybe not in my neighborhood at 2:30 in the morning with a bullhorn in front of my house waking up everybody in the neighborhood, but that does not mean that extends to a complete ban," he added.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray is working on legislation to comply with a ruling that lifted a gun ban in the nation's captial, and Dr. Tom Palmer, the plaintiff in that case, says he fears that the proposal will amount to a de facto ban.